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South Australian premier also promises country’s first renewable energy storage target in a ‘rejection of the federal government’s approach’

The South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, has gone all in on the state’s transition to renewable energy, promising to lift the state-based renewable energy target from 50% to 75% by 2025 and to introduce the country’s first renewable energy storage target.

A re-elected Labor government would set a target that 25% of the state’s peak demand be met by stored renewable energy, equating to about 750MW of storage. The target would be met with subsidy arrangements, the premier said.

Seagrass shelters fish and acts against erosion and climate change, but is under threat

Meadows of seagrass are one of our great but sorely neglected wild plant spectacles. This humble plant spreads out in lush green carpets that can stretch for miles around much of Britain’s coast. There they shelter young fish and shellfish, as well as protecting against erosion of the coast by storms and floods, by trapping sediment in their roots.

And the seagrass meadows also play a big part in fighting climate change. They soak up carbon dioxide and hold tremendous stores of carbon on the sea floor, more than twice the carbon stored by a forest of similar area. And across the world, seagrasses are believed to lock away more than 10% of all the carbon buried each year in the oceans.

Bosses from British Airways, Virgin and easyJet urge MPs to secure pledge on cost before vote

The true cost of Heathrow expansion is likely to be “grossly” higher than the £14.3bn the airport has cited, airlines have told MPs, adding that transparency and guarantees should be supplied ahead of a crucial vote.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, British Airways’ parent company and the main operator at Heathrow, said parliament should not trust Heathrow and said he had “zero confidence” that a third runway would be delivered on time and budget.

A cascade of courtroom standoffs are beginning to slow, and even reverse, the EPA rollbacks thanks to the administration’s ‘disregard for the law’

In its first year in office, the Trump administration introduced a solitary new environmental rule aimed at protecting the public from pollution. It was aimed not at sooty power plants or emissions-intensive trucks, but dentists.

Every year, dentists fill Americans’ tooth cavities with an amalgam that includes mercury. About 5 tons of mercury, a dangerous toxin that can taint the brain and the nervous system, are washed away from dental offices down drains each year.

British Antarctic Survey is trying to reach a newly revealed ecosystem that had been hidden for 120,000 years below the Larsen C ice shelf

A team of international scientists is due to set off for the world’s biggest iceberg on Wednesday, fighting huge waves and the encroaching Antarctic winter, in a mission aiming to answer fundamental questions about the impact of climate change in the polar regions.

The scientists, led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), are trying to reach a newly revealed ecosystem that had been hidden for 120,000 years below the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula.

Few clubs cater for fans who choose to cycle to the ground, but simple changes could help reduce traffic jams and pollution on match days

I am a football fan and I am a cyclist. These identities do not need to be mutually exclusive – so why is it often such a challenge to go to the game by bike?

I support Norwich City and I live in Liverpool, which is the first hurdle. Liverpool is 238 miles away from Norwich, and the direct train takes more than five hours. Because of this, I have pretty much given up on home games.

Researchers are hoping to increase the population of one of Australia’s most endangered frogs by helping them reach sexual maturity earlier.

The number of wild northern corroboree frogs, which are only found in cold, mountainous areas of the ACT and New South Wales, has been in sharp decline, mostly due to chytrid fungus. The fungus causes an infectious disease that is killing frogs around the world. There are only 20 of the small black and yellow striped frogs left living in the wild in the ACT and fewer than 1,000 in NSW.

A cross-party group of MPs has raised doubts over whether the growing energy demand from digital technology and the proliferation of internet-connected gadgets can continue to be offset by energy efficiency improvements.

More efficient smartphones, networking gear and data centres have so far largely staved off increased power demand from the internet and computing – which now accounts for about 6% of global electricity use.

To challenge the Liberals, Jagmeet Singh will have to overthrow Canada’s neoliberal consensus

At the New Democratic Party’s convention this weekend in Ottawa, their new leader Jagmeet Singh declared “the time to be timid was over.” For a party whose shambling meekness in the last election let Justin Trudeau claim the mantle of progressive champion, such a shift could not come sooner.

That an opportunity exists to capitalize on enormous hunger for change is apparent. Trudeau harnessed it for his route to power, only to betray it in office. The environmental Adonis transformed into an oil barons’ salesman. An electoral reform promise was broken with a shrug. Instead of a peace offensive, we’ve gotten a military spending spree; instead of novel social programs, novelty socks.

High court order bans eight campaigners from ancient woodland in west London

The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has been granted an injunction banning campaigners opposed to the construction of the HS2 line on an area of ancient woodland in west London from “unlawful protest” on the site.

Expired, unfinished or undeveloped: conservationists call for more transparency and accountability in species management systems

Less than 40% of Australia’s nationally-listed threatened species have recovery plans in place to secure their long-term survival.

And close to 10% of listed threatened species are identified as requiring plans to manage their protection but the documents are either unfinished or haven’t been developed, according to data published by the environment and energy department.